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Open letter to Femi Gbajabiamila

Mr. Speaker sir, my decision to write to you at this time is necessitated by your recent outburst and insistence on being a sectional leader using your position as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

It is not only disgusting but a clear sign that you have lost touch with reality, especially considering how our northern representatives rallied around you during your election bid.

Your recent annoying insistence that you will only sign the 2021 Appropriation Bill for onward transmission to the President for assent if the #End SARS protesters are considered for compensation, despite the apparent undertone that the so-called protest is targeted more at disrupting and destabilizing the popular government of President Muhammadu Buhari, shows that you are somehow in concord with the real aim of the protest and that to me will be a betrayal of trust.

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Before your recent behaviour, which has succeeded in revealing your true colour, I used to consider you as a modern nationalist, but not anymore, because,  your statement has shown that you have no feelings for your fellow compatriots in the North.

This is considering the number of years the people of the North, especially those from  the North East and recently the North West, have been at the receiving end of insurgency, banditry and senseless killings with attendant unquantifiable loss of means of livelihood.

The Amnesty International had reported how some security personnel used unnecessary and excessive force on some Shi’ite and IPOB members from the North West and South East in 2015 and 2016, respectively, which resulted in multiple deaths and injuries.

Likewise, some security challenges like banditry, kidnapping and armed robbery have continued to claim innocent lives in Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Plateau, Nasarawa and Benue states.

I thought Mr. Speaker is a concerned Nigerian and also a voice for all Nigerians regardless of region, religion, social or political background, but unfortunately, you are not, otherwise, you should have included the aforementioned incidences in your speech at the Chambers of the Honourable House of Representatives.

Since Mr. Speaker has failed to do that, I decided to give you ample time to ponder over your dummy split about the lives that #EndSARS protesters’ claimed and apologise to each and every Nigerian for your one-sided approach to this very sensitive issue.

I want to use this medium to draw your attention to the fact that during the time of your predecessors, the leadership of the House of Representatives had successfully shunned all divisive tendencies.

We cannot remember any time in our recent history when any of the former speakers threatened to jeopardise the collective interest of the people of Nigeria for the interest of some few.

Mr. Speaker, we want you to know that what you are doing at the moment is nothing but an attempt to destroy the long political investment you have made in the minds of Nigerians, especially in the North.

My call on you at the moment is to honourably retrace your steps and if that would be difficult for you, then you give way for a more competent and capable hand.

Mr. Speaker, I will also like to remind you that the followership you have been enjoying from the members of the House of Representatives is not that of a slave-master relation, but understandably for the good of the country. This should not be mistaken for cowardice and we are keenly watching.

What I also expected from you in all these is to take the side of the men of our hardworking security operatives who were killed in broad day light for protecting the lives and properties of your fellow citizens.

Finally, I will keep praying for these security challenges to come to an end. And I also pray for peaceful coexistence in every part of the country. United we stand and divided we fall.

Maifata (Baraden Yalwa) sent this from Yalwa, Bauchi, [email protected]

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